Jerusalem, Oct. 16 (Reuters): Israeli President Moshe Katsav, under pressure to resign after police recommended he be charged with rape, stayed away from a parliamentary ceremony today after legislators threatened to snub him.

The allegations have cast a shadow on the presidency, a public office Israelis cherish as being above their usual rough-and-tumble politics.

Katsav, whose position is largely ceremonial, has denied any wrongdoing and said he is the victim of a “public lynching without trial”.

After weeks of investigation, police said they had gathered evidence that Katsav had “carried out sex crimes of rape, sexual molestation by force and without consent” against women who worked for him.

His lawyer Tsion Amir said today his client “didn’t do anything” and it was still uncertain whether Katsav would be charged. “He is going to keep this line until the end. He will try to prove during the process that those women lied,” Amir said.